Truly great music can't be explained. One can only listen to it get the full essence and realize how good it is. Not much of this can be found in today's music. Thank heaven for Death Cab for Cutie.
Their newest album, Narrow Stairs, is both simple and complex. It is intellectual and abstract, completely open to a different interpretation by each listener. This is the heart of Death Cab, especially because they reside in Seattle, the birthplace of alternative rock. That West Coast sound shines forth in every note of their music. They play from the soul, for the sake of the music and nothing else.
Not only do they have the organic Seattle sound, but their music shows its evolution from its roots into the modern, computer-accompanied sound it is today.
The single, I Will Possess Your Heart is almost a symphony to evolution, tying together the twang of an old piano and the extra long sustain of a brand new electric guitar. Talking Bird is what The Everly Brothers would be writing if they were still around. The drum line in No Sunlight would make The Dave Clark Five proud.
The combination of all these things is what truly makes this album, and the others before it, stand out. Light vocals, upbeat melodies and deep lyrics and an indefinable style all its own is all Death Cab. -
17 Archives
Susan Tebben
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